Geographic Profiling and the DC area sniper shootings

By
Joe Francica

It is astounding,
if not bemusing, to hear how TV journalists are turning to "geographic
profiling" to determine if any viable spatial pattern exists in the
recent sniper killings in Montgomery County, Maryland and the surrounding
Washington D.C.area. See the links in this article for more crime
mapping resources.

The use of "spatial
analysis" to discern the proximity, or juxtaposition on a location-by-location
basis of each shooting is now getting much "air time" in the national media.
Of course, at this time, there does not appear to be a pattern, at least
none that can be immediately interpreted.The maps below show the locations
of each of the eleven incidents to date, represented by a red diamond shape
and the chronological number in which they occurred.

Montgomery County, Maryland
Area

It was appalling to
hear one analyst on a Sunday morning CNN
program immediately suggest that the attacks appeared to be heading "south"
and that we could expect to see the next incident in that direction.Isn't
it amazing how some TV talking heads are becoming experts in GIS as the
camera zooms in? How incredibly irresponsible and naive it was to make
an interpretation on such slim evidence!

Northern Virginia and Washington
D.C.AreaClick map
for larger image

If you are interested in Crime
Mapping or Geographic Profiling, follow the links below: